The Durham Street Methodist Church in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

was the earliest stone church constructed in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

region of New Zealand. It is registered as a "Historic Place – Category I" by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

. The church was severely damaged by an earthquake on 4 September 2010, but collapsed during a following earthquake on 22 February 2011, killing three workers who were removing the organ.

History

Christchurch was mainly an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

settlement. The congregation of Methodists was small, but active. The first Methodist Chapel, which was located in High Street, was sold in 1864. Durham St Methodist Church and school room

Durham St Methodist Church and school room

An architectural competition was held for a new church in Durham Street. The winning architectural firm,

Crouch and Wilson Crouch and Wilson was an architectural practice based in Melbourne, Australia in the late nineteenth century. The partnership, between Tasmanian-born Thomas Crouch and recently arrived Londoner Ralph Wilson, commenced in 1857 in Elizabeth Street. ...

from Melbourne, had entered a design in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

in the 1863 competition. Local architect Samuel Farr, who had come to

Akaroa Akaroa is a small town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name. The name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu Māori for "Long Harbour", which would be spelled in standard ...

in early 1850, came second in the competition and was engaged to for the construction supervision. In early 1864, the

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

was laid by

Samuel Bealey Samuel Bealey (1821 – 8 May 1909) was a 19th-century politician in Canterbury, New Zealand. Bealey came out to Canterbury in 1851, a pastoralist with capital to invest in farming. He married Rose Ann, daughter of Archdeacon Paul in 1852. Havi ...

who at the time was Superintendent of Canterbury Province. The building was officially opened on Christmas Day 1864 and Canterbury thus had its first church built of permanent materials. The stone used includes

Halswell Originally a separate village, Halswell is now a residential suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located southwest of Cathedral Square on State Highway 75. History Halswell is named after Edmund Halswell QC (1790–1874), a government offi ...

and

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hi ...

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

and

Charteris Bay Charteris Bay, officially Te Wharau / Charteris Bay, is a large inlet on the southern coast of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, New Zealand. It abuts Diamond Harbour to the east and Teddington to the west. The boundary of the bay also includes � ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

. A gallery was added to the building in 1869 and a schoolroom was built next to it in 1875. A

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

was subsequently erected facing Chester Street. In 1951 a Memorial Chapel was added, dedicated to those killed in both World Wars. On 2 April 1985, the church building was registered with the registration number 3099 by the Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage building. An

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

was built in 1987 to connect the church to the Aldersgate building next door which houses offices for both the church and the Christian Methodist Mission.

Earthquakes

The

1888 North Canterbury earthquake The 1888 North Canterbury earthquake occurred at on 1 September following a sequence of foreshocks that started the previous evening, and whose epicentre was in the North Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. The epicentre was a ...

caused a spire in the south-eastern corner to tilt, leading to its subsequent removal. The church and hall were severely damaged in the September 2010 earthquake and the aftershock the following

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

. The building collapsed the following February in the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

while a team of eight workers from the

South Island Organ Company The South Island Organ Company is a manufacturer of pipe organs in Timaru, New Zealand. The company, in business since 1968, has manufactured and restored over 300 pipe organs throughout New Zealand, Australia and Oceania. Founders South Island O ...

were dismantling the organ, killing three of them.

Replacement building

A replacement building opened on 29 March 2020. The courtyard contains a plaque commemorating the three people killed in the 2011 earthquake.

Interior

The interior plan reflected the standard

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

Methodist layout of a meeting hall surrounded by galleries and was designed to accommodate 1200 people. The cedar

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

, centred on the back wall, was accessed by a double staircase. The

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, installed in 1902, replaced an earlier hand pumped organ which had been installed in 1874. The replacement organ was built by Ingram & Co. in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, United Kingdom and was valued at $1 million prior to the church's destruction. Four sets of memorial

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows were installed at different times.

References

{{Authority control Gothic Revival church buildings in New Zealand Religious buildings and structures in Christchurch NZHPT Category I listings in Canterbury, New Zealand Churches completed in 1864 19th-century Methodist church buildings Buildings and structures demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake Former churches in New Zealand Christianity in Christchurch Listed churches in New Zealand 1860s architecture in New Zealand